With the permanent ship lock passing the appraisal and shifted into formal operation, the schedule of the Three Gorges Project in the upcoming six years has been set.

During the construction of the third phase, several tasks are to be completed in parallel with construction, operation and production, said Li Yong'an, general manager of China Three Gorges Project Corporation, the dam, plant workshops on the right bank, the dam section near ships, ship lifts and the construction and installment of the 12 sets of hydro-power generating units on the right bank.

As learned, at the 13th meeting the State Council Three Gorges Project Committee has approved in principle that the water level in the Three Gorges reservoir will be raised to 156 meters after floods in 2006.

With this objective and the experience of the workshop construction and installment of generating units in the second phase, the Three Gorges Project Corporation has basically determined the main schedule for future construction after analyses and studies with the units and departments engaged in the construction.

--The dam on the right bank is supposed to, along its entire length, reach or be close to the intake in 2004, i.e. a height of 108 meters. The height should be 150 meters by the end of 2005.

--Demolition of the RCC (rolled compacted concrete) cofferdam of the third phase to be started in July to August 2006, and ceiling the dam on the right bank around October at the height of 185 meters for the water reserve to reach 156 meters after floods.

--Civil engineering be generally completed in 2007 and the first batch of generating units be put into operation.

-- Ship lifts to be brought to finish in 2009.

Till April 2004, 6, 883 contracts on the Three Gorges Project were signed with a total worth of RMB 48.863 billion yuan.

By People's Daily Online